Down by the Water
by SocialSuicideGirl
Summary: Set shortly after the Pein arc. Naruto and Hinata go for a walk, and Naruto asks Hinata an unexpected question. Lemon, ish, but hopefully a bit different to the usual fare. Rated M to be safe.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. I didn't make the cover pic either, it's from Storm2121 on DeviantArt.

**A/N:**This is my 1st attempt at posting a lemon-type story. Super sorry to anyone who found this fic after reading some of my cutesier stuff, this was not rated M by accident. It's been a long time for me between posting but I find reviews and constructive criticism (not flames!) super inspiring and encouraging! So if you would like more stories, please review! ^_^

**Dedication: **This is dedicated to my mann on our anniversary. He doesn't really know what Naruto is except for when I occasionally rant about it, and he has no interest in learning more either but he listens to what I say and even remembers stuff like random jutsus and about Naruto becoming Hokage just because he cares about me and wants to encourage my interests. Even though he probably thinks writing fanfiction is a total waste of time he gets enthusiastic about it for me and understands that this is an outlet for me to express myself and the fact that he can get so excited and be so supportive about something so completely dorky and far removed from the kinds of things he likes makes me feel really loved and go all mushy for him. Thank you lovey dove 3

* * *

**Down by the Water**

It was a beautiful day. The sun was hard at work shining high in the sky; which was a bright, cheerful shade of blue that reminded Hinata of a certain bubbly blonde young man's eyes.

This time she didn't have to search her memory for reference, Naruto was right there next to her. They had settled on the grassy bank of a beautiful lake that lay deep in the woods of Konoha, where they had wound up on one of their aimless walks. Ever since they battled against Pain, Naruto had started paying Hinata more attention, spending time with her. Whether this was due to her confession or her attempt to save his life or no connection at all, she didn't know. He just showed up sometimes and they would go on long, rambling walks together across the village, through the woods, wherever their feet would take them. They would talk about anything and everything it seemed, well, everything except _that. _He had never brought it up and she certainly didn't know how, or if she even wanted to. After her near-death experience, Hinata had resolved to try to live her life more like the one she admired by living in the moment more rather than overthinking so much, saying yes to more opportunities, taking charge more often and being a more active participant in her own life. So far, it had resulted in a lot of pleasant walks and talks with Naruto, and getting to have her choice for dinner a couple of times, but otherwise... It was very much a work in progress.

Hinata let out small, nearly silent breaths as she practiced the ninja art of being perfectly still while Naruto stared into her eyes with a concentrated squint on his face, mere centimetres away from hers. He was so close, she could only clearly see the top of the three whisker marks that adorned each of his cheeks, now devoid of that kinda cute kinda roundness of pre-adolescent puppy fat he had shed on his travels. He was so close, she could make out a light sprinkling of faint, barely-there freckles over the bridge of his nose where his skin had been kissed by the sun. He was so close, that a braver woman than her could easily close the gap between them and -

"Hinata?" Naruto said suddenly, finally breaking the silence.

"Yes, Naruto?" Hinata replied smoothly. She inwardly swelled with pride at her lack of Naruto-induced stuttering. Like many things in her life right now, it was still a work in progress, but for the meantime she found she could keep it under control if she didn't say too much.

"How come you can see?" Naruto asked innocently, like a small child asking why the sky was blue.

Hinata jerked back her head in surprise. "Uh-umm… what?"

Naruto tilted his head in thought. "Well, the other day when Granny Tsunade was treating me after I got that stuff in my eye, she gave me this whole lecture about how precious eyes are and how they work and stuff, and she was all blah blah blah – I might have zoned out a bit – and then she said something about how important the pupil of your eye is for you to be able to see and everything… But I mean, you can see plenty good and you don't even have any, right?"

Hinata scooted back a bit on the grass so she could sit up straight. "Y-Yes I do! My eyes have all the things yours have to be able to see, they're just a b-bit different…" She was starting to lose the battle against her stutter but couldn't help but feel defensive about her eyes. A blush bloomed high on her cheeks as she scooted back some more and Naruto followed obliviously along, crawling towards her on his hands and knees, still squinting hard at her face.

"Huh… Well, I don't see anything. It just all looks white," he commented offhandedly. His warm breath hit her face. Hinata sighed in defeat and stood up to retain her precious personal space. She was trying so hard to keep it together in his presence but lately especially it really seemed as if he was deliberately toying with her sometimes. Naruto stood up as well, prevented from moving too close by an outstretched hand keeping him at arm's length.

"Now watch," Hinata instructed, activating her Byakugan. "...now do you see it?" She focused all of her willpower on keeping her eyes on his face; his lovely, handsome, more grown-up but still dopey and adorable, face.

"Oh yeah..!" Naruto exclaimed after a moment or two. "I see it now, it's just kind of the same colour as the bigger bit of your eye! Like camouflage! That's pretty cool..."

Naruto absently moved closer, leaning into the hand Hinata was holding out to keep him at bay. They both reflexively looked down as his chest made contact with her hand. A bright flush crept up Hinata's neck and face as she saw what she knew she shouldn't be looking at uninvited. Especially not this close-up when she could easily get caught. Oh, but Naruto certainly had grown during his years away training, and in all the right ways! Her eyes hungrily took in his strong frame, the lean muscular build of his chest and arms, the sparse smattering of dark golden hairs here and there on his chest that culminated down the middle crease of his firm abs to form the beginnings of an enticing treasure trail just beckoning for her eyes to venture lower and behold naughty, naughty, wondrous riches she could only ever dream of getting her hands on…

Before she knew it, her gaze was trailing down even further and she guiltily averted her eyes just a little too late, blushing furiously as she stared into the middle distance over Naruto's left shoulder.

There wasn't another soul around for miles, Hinata realised. They had walked for a long time before Naruto had challenged her to a race and they had run for quite a while before they had ended up here down by the water. Naruto could probably do whatever he wanted to her and no-one would be any the wiser. He could kill her right now for her shameful act of perversion and no-one would hear a thing.

"Uh, Hinata?" Naruto's tone made Hinata nervous. She deactivated her kekkei genkai and fought to meet his eyes, cheeks flaming. She knew Naruto had realised as well, because of the light blush colouring his own cheeks. "Uh Hinata… di-did you just look at my..?"

All Hinata could do was nod as she stared at the grass between them in shame. She wouldn't lie to Naruto. Whatever their relationship was to him, it was incredibly important to Hinata and honesty was a very important part of building strong bonds, she knew. Also, she was clearly caught out. What else could she do? After such a violation of privacy, how could she ever make it up to him?

* * *

Naruto gaped at her, astounded. Surely it was just an accident, right?

"Um…" He wasn't really sure he wanted to know, but his curiosity was getting the better of him. "You… haven't, you know, peeked at me with your special eyes before, have you..?"

Hinata's head lowered even further and she clenched her eyes shut. "Y-Yes," she affirmed shakily.

Naruto was absolutely gobsmacked. Why would she, Hinata Hyuuga, ever use her super Hyuuga vision to peek on him, Naruto Uzumaki? "No but I mean, on _purpose..?_" he persisted, utterly unable to comprehend how it could be.

"Yes!" Hinata repeated, raising her voice to a level Naruto had never known her to use outside the battlefield. She raised her head to meet his gaze once again, an edge of steely defiance glinting in her pale eyes. Naruto was utterly shocked. Who was this girl? She certainly wasn't the timid, innocent little thing from their academy days who tried to hide from any and all confrontation, not anymore.

"But… why?" Naruto was completely baffled.

Hinata refused to look away, not this time. "You're… nice to look at, Naruto." This time Naruto was the one to look away and blush. He stared at the ground, shaking his head in utter bemusement.

After a few moments, Hinata realised he was also muttering to himself. She leaned closer just in time to catch, "- could at least let me have a peek at her…" Hinata audibly gasped and stumbled backwards. Naruto's head shot up, even redder than before.

"Ah no wait!" Naruto cried out, frantically waving his hands out in front of him. "I didn't mean it like that… I mean, I'm not a pervert! Not that you… But uh-" His speech fell apart with his hands reaching out beseechingly, temporarily frozen in shock as Hinata unzipped her light purple jacket with trembling hands, throwing it at him with a self-righteous "hmph!"

Naruto's world became dark as the jacket landed squarely on top of his head. He weakly struggled with it, feeling impossibly slow and clumsy, tangled in the warmth and distinctly feminine scent from Hinata's body. Finally the jacket fell to a heap on the ground and Naruto found himself goggling incredulously at the sight before him. Hinata stood with hands on hips, without a stitch of clothing on her body, watchfully studying his face.

Naruto was at a total loss. He was too terrified to move, to look away from her eyes in any direction, to breathe.

Whatever reaction Hinata was looking for, she didn't seem to get it, because she started backing away from him, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Hinata, wait!" Naruto managed to call out.

She seemed to take no heed in his words as she turned her back to him, long midnight blue hair swishing alluringly over the curve of her bare hips as she bent her knees, giving Naruto an amazing view of her firm, round bottom before performing a graceful dive into the water. Naruto just stood there, staring after her helplessly until she surfaced facing towards him, the water slipping teasingly over the swell of her breasts, hiding her pert nipples and the rest of her body from sight. Only moments ago he had the opportunity to see all of her but didn't dare, and now he found himself resenting the level of the water for breaking up his view.

Wordlessly, Hinata made a beckoning motion with her hand for him to join her in the water. She watched as he kicked off his sandals and discarded his jacket before she dove beneath the surface again, assured that he was on his way. Naruto gulped at the flash of supple pale skin and worked quicker to rid himself of his clothes. His frantic pace eased as he got down to his boxers. Naruto thumbed the waistband uncertainly. Should he take them off, or not? A splash of cold water made him jerk up in surprise. Hinata was growing impatient. Naruto threw his cares to the wind along with the item of clothing in question and splashed noisily in after her.

They swam around playfully, passing by each other so very close, yet never daring to touch. The glimpses of bare skin Naruto caught every time he dared to open his eyes underwater as Hinata glided by all careless grace and amazing curves were doing strange things to what was left of his mind; any attempts at rational thought clashing with baser, more animal instincts dictated by his hormonal teenage body.

Hinata looked over at Naruto expectantly from time to time, but never spoke, so neither did he. He followed her as she swam in long, languid breaststrokes up and down the length of the water and in wide circles, until Naruto found they were back in the shallows.

Hinata stood up, carelessly bearing her upper body for a moment before crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm cold," she said simply, before wading back up to their grassy spot from earlier and sitting in the sun.

Naruto relished the fresh opportunity to take in her hourglass figure out of the water. His eyes flew all over her body, ravenously taking in her enticing alabaster skin, the alluring tuft of deep dark hair nestled at the juncture of her long creamy thighs, her cute little belly button, the generous swell of her breasts, the quivering pout of her purple-tinted lips... Oh. Even Naruto could tell then that Hinata really was cold.

Funnily enough, Naruto himself didn't feel cold at all at, quite the opposite, even. So warm that he almost expected the water around him to start boiling. There was a particular persistent kind of heat low in his belly, threatening to go lower still, that he was fighting with all the willpower and discipline he had accrued in his years of being the Kyuubi container to hold under control. Even so, it was getting a bit... hard. He sunk down a little in the water to make sure it was covering him up to his waist.

Hinata stared at him plaintively with her arms around herself, knees drawn up to her chest and legs squeezed together tight, visibly shivering.

"Why don't you put on your clothes?" Naruto asked without thinking, "you look freezing!"

"...then I would still be cold and my clothes would be all wet," Hinata murmured unhappily into her knees. Her teeth started chattering, causing Naruto to rush out of the water in alarm.

"Here, put on some of my clothes," Naruto offered, holding out his trademark orange and black jacket along with his black undershirt.

"Th-then your clothes would get all wet instead of mine. P-please don't worry, I j-just start shivering easily. I just need to wait to dry off a bit f-first..."

Naruto felt torn. Somehow, he felt pretty strongly that it was his fault they had gone swimming and made Hinata cold, but she had rejected his offer of clothing, which a deviant part of him was kind of glad about... but she looked so cold she was practically turning blue!

He hesitantly began inching closer to her, starting to rub her back with one hand, ready to be slapped at any moment for his inappropriate behaviour. Instead, Hinata responded with a positive "mmmh" sound, giving the encouragement Naruto needed to come closer, getting on his knees and rubbing her back and shoulders with both hands. What was happening had long since departed the realm of possibility for him, leaving Naruto feeling incredibly uncertain and inadequate, constantly on the verge of panic and apology; but he couldn't help himself, he had to do something.

Hinata leaned into his touch, pressing her side into his chest, a sigh of, "mm, you're so warm, Naruto" dreamily escaping her lips. Oh damnit, the way she said his name... He was completely at her mercy.

He tried with all his might not to notice how close her face was to his private parts or speculate about whether the soft part of Hinata touching his chest was arm or breast.

She leaned into him harder, still shivering, causing Naruto to fall back into a sitting position. As if it were an invitation, she followed and sat herself across his lap, her raised knees pressing into his chest as she shivered and shivered.

He rubbed and rubbed at her arms and back only, very careful to keep it that way, silently praying to all the deities he had ever heard of that Hinata wouldn't ask him what was poking into her leg.

Her breath huffed against his neck, warm and moist and driving him crazy.

He squeezed his eyes closed and rubbed furiously, willing her warm, clinging to the last frayed shreds of gentlemanliness he had left with all his might.

Without warning, she turned her upper body to face him. He felt the distinct soft pressure of two very large, very real breasts against his chest and would come to remember the difference between the general softness of girls and the amazing feel of breasts for the rest of his life.

Hinata tried to catch his gaze but his eyes were still shut, so summoning all of her courage, she spoke up. "…Naruto?"

His eyes opened and he found himself looking directly into her questioning gaze. "Hinata..!" was all he could get out before their mouths collided in a passionate, open-mouthed kiss. He let himself be knocked backwards and managed to utter half a gasp of surprise before their mouths were back together and her upper body pressed firmly against his, her legs folded primly to the side.

Naruto couldn't have been more grateful that Hinata was the aggressor in this amazing, impossible turn of events. No-one, himself included, would have ever believed that Hinata had participated willingly in this frenzied naked make-out session otherwise. Hell, the others still might not if they ever found out, but at least he would know for himself.

Their tongues began dancing together in a smooth rhythm and Naruto finally had enough brain power spare to move his hands from the 'I surrender' position to touch her warm, inviting body. He started by merely placing his hands on her back where they once were, then one particularly brave fellow dared to move down and out to cup the side of her breast. Hinata saw what he wanted and pushed herself up on her elbows to give him better access. He ran both hands up and down her sides a couple of times before venturing up to capture her full breasts, massaging and squeezing uncertainly. There was so much and they were surprisingly heavy but in the best way, and they definitely deserved all the support and adoration he was trying to show them and more. His curiosity driving him, Naruto gently pressed the two generous handfuls together, releasing an awed sigh that made contact with her skin. Hinata pulled away to utter a light, sensual moan into his ear which Naruto found encouraging, very encouraging. He released his hold on one breast and experimentally squeezed the tender pink bud of her nipple, eliciting a sharp squeal of surprise from Hinata, who moved out from his grasp. Naruto was about to apologise for going too far when the realisation struck him of what Hinata was actually doing, as her breast bumped into his chin before zooming in on the target of his open mouth. He sucked and licked enthusiastically, spurred on by her hot moans and breathless sighs of pleasure that he almost couldn't believe were thanks to his own clumsy actions.

Hinata's hands were all over him, combing through his unruly blonde hair, stroking down his toned arms, caressing the length of his strong thighs, curiously creeping further up until her fingers reached a particularly ticklish area by his groin that startled Naruto, causing him to pull back, trying to supress an unmanly giggle with a strong exhale of breath.

They stared into each other's eyes for a long moment, panting, pearlescent white meeting brilliant blue, before she descended on him again, their lips coming together in a sloppy, passionate kiss; tongues sliding together, freely exploring each other's mouths, licking lips. She laid her full weight on top of him briefly before her legs settled on either side of his body.

The heat of their naked bodies pressed together thrilled Naruto in a way he'd never known. The feel of her ample bosom on his chest, the passion in her hot, intoxicating kisses; the slick, inviting warmth of her core pressed against him... it was almost too much. She writhed against him, grinding lightly on his lap. His cock twitched longingly between them. "Uh, careful..!" Naruto managed to rasp out hoarsely.

"Oh..!" Hinata said suddenly, as if waking from a trance. She hastily sat up and backed off it just enough, resting on his thighs. She looked down between them with a somewhat perplexed expression before meeting his eyes in a long, meaningful look that Naruto appreciated but couldn't decipher.

Naruto gulped, propping himself up on his elbows beneath her. "Do you uh, have, something..?" he asked as casually as he could with a gorgeous naked girl straddling his lap, inwardly cursing himself for coming off as so horny and desperate.

She shook her head, looking back to him expectantly.

"Me neither," Naruto said, feeling like an absolute idiot.

"I mean uh, Pervy Sage did give me this box of uh, you know, _things_, for uh, you know, _that_," for some reason Naruto couldn't bring himself to use such explicit language in front of Hinata right now, even given their current position and their current state of undress, "and I used to carry them around just to make him happy but umm I never expected to use them or anything you know… and then me and the guys had a water balloon fight the other day…" he trailed off with a sheepish grin.

Hinata turned away, nodding. The spell was broken. She wordlessly got up and began gathering her clothes. The loss of warmth when her body left his was immediate and devastating. Naruto dressed quickly, trying to catch up.

"Hinata, wait..!" Naruto called out as she zipped up her jacket. She hadn't actually made a move to leave yet, but he couldn't risk it. "You don't have to go yet... do you?" he all but pleaded. Naruto knew how pathetic he sounded to his own ears, but he didn't really care.

He steeled himself for Hinata to say goodbye and leave him behind, but to his relief she answered him by taking his hand and leading him to lie back down with her over where the grass was dry. She lay her head on his fully-clothed chest and nuzzled into him. The warmth of her soft cheek against his bare neck was everything. Naruto had never felt so relaxed and excited at the same time. Hinata's long hair was still damp and now so was Naruto's jacket but somehow to him even that was fantastic. Hinata sighed contentedly when he draped his arm around her and cuddled her in closer.

Up above, the birds chirped conversationally among themselves in the trees while they relaxed in relative stillness below. Usually Naruto couldn't stand silence and tried to fill it with any nonsense that came to mind, but right now, nothing did. Plus, for once he didn't really feel the need for talk. This kind of quiet felt comfortable, nice. Naruto let himself fully relax, relishing the weight of Hinata's slight body against his and the smell of her unperfumed hair under his nose.

Hinata laced her fingers together with Naruto's on the hand that he wasn't holding around her. Together, they peacefully watched the sun get lower in the sky, the once-exuberant blues mellowing and blending with the light pinks and purples of the approaching evening, just enjoying the feeling of being together with no need for words to pass between them, until Hinata sighed reluctantly and climbed to her feet.

"It's getting late," she explained, offering her hands out to him. He took them and pulled himself up, using the opportunity to bring her body back to his one more time in a tight hug that she gladly sank into.

"...I promised to be home before dark," she continued after a long moment, giving him a brief, fiercely affectionate squeeze back before stepping away. All he could do was let her go. His arms dropped uselessly to his sides and a thousand things he wanted to say raced through his mind - thoughts, feelings, questions - but nothing seemed right.

She offered him a small smile and pressed it gently to his lips, so different from the urgent, lust-filled kisses from not long ago. This was a sweet, soft touch full of innocence and light and promises of tomorrow.

He couldn't help the dopey, love-struck grin that took over his face.

Seeming satisfied, she nodded to herself and started running in the direction of the Hyuuga compound.

* * *

Hinata ran, never allowing herself to look back. Finally, things were moving in the right direction.

She couldn't help but feel a bit guilty about her answer, but she knew she hadn't lied, exactly... Naruto had asked her if she had any *thing,* which she didn't... as a kunoichi however, she did of course have a contraceptive jutsu committed to memory that her sensei had taught her years ago, when she first became a genin.

It wasn't that she didn't want him, but things had been moving so fast and she had never done such things with a boy before...

She resolved to tell him the full truth as soon as the opportunity came up, hoping he could forgive her.

* * *

Naruto watched as Hinata's figure disappeared into the distance, absently unzipping his jacket and patting the inside pocket, rustling the small plastic packets within. Yep, still there. He didn't lie to Hinata exactly, he really had wasted an entire box of condoms in a water balloon fight with the guys just the other day, but as the devoted student of the great and perverted Jiraiya, he always had back-ups.

It wasn't that he didn't want all of that with her... He just didn't know if the timing was right. After everything that went down when Pein attacked the village and what little time they'd been able to spend together since, Naruto had only just been able to sort out his feelings... Not to mention that there was a huge target on his head that also put anyone close to him at risk... But more importantly, if they had done anything in the heat of the moment that Hinata would come to regret, Naruto would never forgive himself.

He made a silent promise that given the chance, he would come clean to her and hope she'd understand.

* * *

...Yep, so that's it... any reviews would be super appreciated, I'm not overly confident at writing about this kind of thing yet but I have more citrus-flavoured ideas if I ever manage to type them AND work up the courage to submit...

Thanks for reading! XD

-SSG


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